Weekly Parsha

Mazal Tov: Eduardo Lowensohn for his birthday.

Pray for Refuah Sheimah: Yossefa bat Sharon and Rafael ben Gladis.

Continue Praying for: Mariana bat Zulay, Heidi bat Sarah and Yosefa bat Sharon.

Ha'azinu

Deuteronomy 32:1 - 32:51

The Torah portion of this week, Ha'azinu, (“Listen In”) consists of a 70-line “song/poem” delivered by Moses to the people of Israel on the last day of earthly life. It recounts the trials and tribulations of the Jewish people during the 40 years in the desert. Jewish consciousness, until the present generation, was to teach every Jewish child to memorize Ha'azinu. In this manner we internalized the lessons of our history, especially the futility of rebelling against the Almighty.

The portion ends with Moshe being told to ascend Mount Nevo to see the Promised Land before he dies and is "gathered to his people". By the way, this is one of the allusions to an afterlife in the Torah. Moshe died alone and no one knows where he is buried. Therefore, "gathered to his people" has a higher meaning!

The Almighty told Moshe that he would not be allowed to enter the land of Israel:

"because you trespassed against me in the midst of the Children of Israel at the waters of Merivos-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Tzin, because you did not sanctify Me in the midst of the Children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:51).

The verse seems to be redundant. The concept of din (judgment) and cheshbon (accounting) are being referred to in this verse. Din is the judgment for what one has done wrong -- Moshe trespassed against the Almighty. The second part of the verse is the cheshbon, that is, the calculation of what Moshe could accomplish if he would have done what was proper by speaking to the rock instead of hitting it. He would have had the merit of a major Kidush HaShem, sanctification of G-d's name instead of "you did not sanctify Me".

Our lesson: Before we act, we must consider the possible harm of our action as well as the lost opportunity for accomplishing something positive.

Never look down on anyone -- unless you are helping them up!

It is never too late to be what you might have been... Your attitudes determines your direction. 

New year. New chance. New attitude!

B'Hatzlacha!

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern usefulness and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and he is happy to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming for communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College of New York where he teaches classes on Talmud, Chassidism, Jewish History, Contemporary Jewish Law and Jewish Music. He has got a Harvard Degree in Judaic Studies. He also got his Bachelor's in Business Administration and he earned a postgraduate degree in International Relations. 

Rabbi Tank works as a Kosher Supervisor and as a Chaplain, with active involvement in Bikur Cholim, peace negotiations and humanitarian relief operations. Rabbi Tank is a Member of the National White House Faith Leaders, an Executive Office of the President of the United States.

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